Spaniards divided on picking over the bones of the Civil War

More than 70 years after the start of a conflict that ripped apart the people of Spain, and 33 years after the death of General Francisco Franco, an inquiry into the country's darkest era is expected to reopen old wounds. Judge Baltasar Garzón decided last week to launch a criminal investigation into the fate of the thousands who "vanished" during the Civil War of 1936-39 and the ensuing fascist dictatorship.

The crusading 52-year-old judge, who previously set his sights on General Pinochet, and led the fight against home-grown Eta terrorists and the Islamists responsible for the Madrid train bombings, has now made it his mission to sit in judgment on Franco's regime. In doing so, he has broken the pact of silence that followed the dictator's death in November 1975 and ensured Spain's smooth transition to democracy. The introduction of an amnesty law in 1977 was designed to draw a line under the past abuses. But Garzón asserts that the widespread torture and execution of Left-wing opponents by Franco and his henchmen constitute "crimes against humanity" and cannot go unpunished.

In a 68-page edict, the judge refers to 114,000 victims who "disappeared" over the 15 years following the military uprising against the democratically elected Second Republic government in July 1936. The "virtual genocide" was carried out by Franco and 34 of his senior aides, all of whom are now dead, but that fact, argues Garzón, does not mean that their crimes cannot be recognised and any others who might be implicated brought to justice.

"The investigation represents a form of institutional rehabilitation that counters the official silence up until now," states the report that Garzón presented to the High Court last Thursday.

While some may criticise, for others, the investigation is the conclusion of years of campaigning for the forgotten victims of Franco's repression.

It is acknowledged that atrocities were carried out on both sides during the Civil War, in which an estimated 500,000 lives were lost, but those who fought for the Nationalist cause were glorified - not least by the Roman Catholic Church - while those on the losing side were ignored.

The immediate effect of Mr Garzón's intervention will be the opening of 19 mass graves that contain the remains of missing victims; one is believed to hold Federico Garcia Lorca, the poet who was executed at the start of the conflict.

Emilio Silva, the president of the Association for the Recovery of Historic Memory, welcomed Garzón's involvement. His own grandfather was killed by fascist forces and thrown in an unmarked grave. "Many families are now contacting us for the first time with information about killers who are still alive today," he said. "This is not a political question any more - we're talking about justice."

Spain's interior ministry has said it will co-operate with a request from Garzón to supply details of any surviving senior members of the Spanish Fascist Party who are alleged to have carried out summary executions in Franco's name.

The decision to launch a "truth commission" has provoked a storm of criticism from all elements of society and the public prosecutor's office has launched an appeal against the move, which it claims is legally dubious. Javier Zaragoza, the attorney-general, said Garzón had initiated a "general inquisition of the sort that is prohibited by the Spanish constitution". The conservative newspaper El Mundo said the decision was "quite simply crazy", while the ABC daily condemned "a judicial ruling that divides the Spanish".

"Garzón must be the only Spaniard who hasn't heard that Franco is dead," quipped Augustin Conde, a senator from the conservative opposition Popular Party (PP). "He is reopening wounds that were happily closed."

Manuel Fraga, the PP's 85-year-old founder, who was a minister in Franco's government, described the inquiry as "absurd" and said: "Politically, it is a very serious error to revive the problems of the Civil War, which was a tragedy for both sides."

The fact that Spain has become polarised over Garzón's decision to investigate a period of history that began with a military uprising more than seven decades ago strengthens his argument that such a move is long overdue and indeed essential if Spain is to heal as a nation.

An editorial in the Left-leaning daily newspaper El Pais said: "It may be 70 years late, but what amounts in essence to putting Franco on trial is vital for the future of a country that so far has shown itself unable to come to terms with the horrors of the past. Other nations that have lived through similar experiences have already done so."

But Garzón has found opposition even from those his investigation is designed to help.

The family of Lorca, Franco's most famous victim, adhere to the "let sleeping dogs lie" school of thought.

"We don't think anything will be served by digging up his remains," said Laura Lorca, the poet's niece.

"We should not disturb the dead," she said. "They have suffered enough."